New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 2 - AGRICULTURE
Chapter 16 - CERTIFICATION
Subchapter 2 - SEED AND SOD, GENERAL CERTIFICATION STANDARDS
Section 2:16-2.6 - Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The following definitions apply to all crops:

"Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies" is the national association of certifying agencies.

"Certifying agency" means an agency authorized under the laws of a state, territory or possession to officially certify seed and which has standards approved by the United States Secretary of Agriculture to assure the genetic purity and identity of the seed certified.

"Component" means a specific lot of a single variety that is used in a mixture.

"Conditioner" means any person or organization who has requested the Department to collect samples, perform tests, and make inspections in order to have seed labeled as certified or interagency certified.

"Conditioning" means the mechanical handling of the seed from harvest until marketing, and includes cleaning, sizing, applying a seed treatment, bagging or any other operation in the handling of the seed before marketing.

"Contaminant" means any seed or plant not of the kind or variety being considered.

"Department" means the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Seed Certification and Control Program.

"Grower" means any person or organization who applies for the inspection of a crop entered for certification, produces the crop in accordance with the certification regulations for that crop, and who accepts the responsibility for the production and management of the seed crop as well as all related financial obligations.

"Interagency certified mixture" or "mixture" means different kinds or varieties of seed certified by the state of origin that have been:

1. Mixed under the Department's supervision (see 2:16-3.1 1); and

2. Found by the Department to have met the specific minimum seed standards set forth in this chapter.

"Kind" means one or more related species which singularly or collectively is known by one common name.

"Lot" means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number, each portion or bag of which is uniform within recognized tolerance for the factor appearing in the labeling.

"Mixing Report" means a form used by the Department to list each component of a specific mixture and the lots and amounts used in the mixture.

"Noxious weeds" means the list of weeds found and defined in the Rules of the New Jersey State Seed Law at N.J.A.C. 2:21, Noxious Weed Seeds, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 4:8-17.2 4, and include:

1. "Prohibited noxious weeds": bindweed, hedge bindweed, quackgrass, Canada thistle, and horsenettle.

2. "Restricted noxious weeds": dodder, corn cockle, wild onion, wild garlic, cheat, Bermuda grass, and Johnsongrass and other perennial sweet sorghum spp.

"Official sample" means a sample taken by a representative of the Department using sampling techniques recognized by the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies.

"Off-type" means plants or seeds which do not conform to the description of the characteristics of the variety as supplied by the breeder or sponsoring institutions or organizations.

"Other varieties" means plants and seed of the same kind that can be differentiated from the variety that is being certified, but shall not include variations which are characteristic of the variety as described by the breeder or which are caused by environmental conditions.

"Plant breeder" means a person or organization actively engaged in the breeding or maintenance of varieties of plants.

"Protected variety" means one for which the breeder or sponsoring organization has filed application with the United States Plant Variety Protection Office.

"Roguing" means the pulling out or otherwise removing unwanted plants or weeds from a field planted for seed.

"Seed" as used in these rules and standards shall be understood to include all propagating materials.

"Sod quality" means seed which has met the quality standards established by the state of origin for use in cultivated sod and has been so labeled by the state of origin.

"Variant" means seeds or plants which are distinct within the variety but occur naturally in the variety, are stable and predictable, and were originally a part of the variety as released. They are not considered as off-types.

"Variety" or "Cultivar" means an assemblage of cultivated individuals which are distinguished by any characters (morphological, cytological, chemical, or others) significant for the purpose of agriculture, forestry or horticulture and which, when reproduced (sexually or asexually) or reconstituted, retain their distinguishing features.